Brother Melted Shutter... Cost to fix?

Yup. My brother took my D7100 out to take pictures, pointed the camera at the sun, and melted a little hole right through the shutter (picture below). The sensor is surprisingly unharmed and can take video just fine. Whenever I take a picture without a flash, an over exposed spot rests where the whole is.

Okay...so how much would it be to replace a shutter? Looking online, I find I can buy a shutter assembly unit for about 50 bucks. However, I can't find any tutorials online to help me disassemble my camera and install the new shutter.

I live in Northern Colorado and I don't believe I have any camera repair shops anywhere nearby.

I did replace my camera because I needed it for a gig soon after finding out about the incident. But now I have a camera that works perfectly fine...just with a hole in the shutter. I want to fix it so I can either use it or sell it. How much would that cost? Would looking into an assembly kit worth it?

Thanks!

Eric

IMG_0518.jpg
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

Looks like you brother owes you at least $200-$250 for the shutter replacement, but I would make sure the repair facility checks out everything on the camera. No telling what else was fried.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Yup. My brother took my D7100 out to take pictures, pointed the camera at the sun, and melted a little hole right through the shutter (picture below). The sensor is surprisingly unharmed and can take video just fine. Whenever I take a picture without a flash, an over exposed spot rests where the whole is.

Okay...so how much would it be to replace a shutter? Looking online, I find I can buy a shutter assembly unit for about 50 bucks. However, I can't find any tutorials online to help me disassemble my camera and install the new shutter.

I live in Northern Colorado and I don't believe I have any camera repair shops anywhere nearby.

I did replace my camera because I needed it for a gig soon after finding out about the incident. But now I have a camera that works perfectly fine...just with a hole in the shutter. I want to fix it so I can either use it or sell it. How much would that cost? Would looking into an assembly kit worth it?

Thanks!

Eric

View attachment 264387
This won't be cheap. I'd tell you to be prepared for an estimate in the $400 range for a complete shutter box replacement based on camera repairs we've needed at the college where I work. But, as has been pointed out, there could internal damage you can't see.
 

RobV

Senior Member
Bummer. I did the same thing with my Minolta SRT101 and Vivitar 85-205 back when I was in high school.

I didn't know that our digital SLRs had a shutter over the sensor.
 

nickt

Senior Member
Yup. My brother took my D7100 out to take pictures, pointed the camera at the sun, and melted a little hole right through the shutter (picture below).
Wow. Can you tell us how NOT to do this? What lens was on? How long pointed at the sun? Was it possibly laying on its back with the lens pointing up for a length of time? I've snapped zoomed pictures of the sun before (without looking through the viewfinder). I've worried about the sensor and kept the shutter fast and aperture small. I never thought about the closed time and burning the shutter. Ouch.
 

WayneF

Senior Member
Wow. Can you tell us how NOT to do this? What lens was on? How long pointed at the sun? Was it possibly laying on its back with the lens pointing up for a length of time? I've snapped zoomed pictures of the sun before (without looking through the viewfinder). I've worried about the sensor and kept the shutter fast and aperture small. I never thought about the closed time and burning the shutter. Ouch.

That would be interesting to hear. If the camera were just left pointing at sun (the shutter not actually being operated at the time), the DSLR mirror would be down, protecting the shutter, and the danger would be burning a hole in our eye when we looked in the viewfinder.

Live View or movie mode would open the shutter, burning a hole in the sensor. The Mirror Up option is the only way I can decipher this to have happened (but which seems less likely?) What am I missing?
 
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RocketCowboy

Senior Member
Howdy and welcome to Nikonites! Unfortunately, it's not under better circumstances.

As others have pointed out, I would expect this to be a pricey repair and something that should be done by a Nikon authorized shop. I'd estimate it in the ~$500 range, but a lot depends on what other damage may be there that isn't easily shown.

Good luck regardless, and please keep us posted on the progress!
 

cwgrizz

Senior Member
Challenge Team
Welcome to the forum. Good luck on the repairs. At ~$400-500 for repair, I'm not sure the camera would be worth that cost unless it is your special one.
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
No activity from the OP since this thread was created so I would guess they have moved on. There have been a rash of one post wonders of late with strange problems who post and you never hear from them again.
 

Just-Clayton

Senior Member
That would be interesting to hear. If the camera were just left pointing at sun (the shutter not actually being operated at the time), the DSLR mirror would be down, protecting the shutter, and the danger would be burning a hole in our eye when we looked in the viewfinder.

Live View or movie mode would open the shutter, burning a hole in the sensor. The Mirror Up option is the only way I can decipher this to have happened (but which seems less likely?) What am I missing?

Yes, the mirror up must have been selected. shutter would have been visible to sun. Sensor wouldnt get burnt unless set to slow shutter speed. My guess is he let it sit pointing at sun for a long time and without filters. I did a test with just my zoom lens with and without filters pointing at the sun. It did get hot without filters on after a short period of time. To burn a spot must have been several minutes.
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Welcome aboard Japes. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

See the previous posts. It ain't cheap.
 
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